Machine for drawing oe spreading fibrous materials



(No Model.)

J. GOOD.

MACHINE FOR DRAWING OR SPREADING FIBROUS MATERIALS.

No. 311,310. Patented. Jan. 27,1885.

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lrrnn STATES JOHN GOOD, OF BROOKLYN, NEXV YORK.

MACHINE FOR DRAWING OR SPREADING FIB RGUS MATERIALS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 311,310, dated January27, 1885.

Application filed February 24, 1882. Renewed March 14, 1884. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that 1, JOHN GOOD, of Brooklyn, in the county of Kings andState of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inMachines for Drawing or Spreading Fibrous Materials, of which thefollowing is a specification.

My invention relates more particularly to that class of machines knownas spreaders, used in the preparation of hemp and flax for spinning, butmay be applicable 'to the drawing or spreading of other fibrousmaterials.

My invention consistsin an improvement on the machine which is thesubject of Letters Patent of the United States No. 95,462, granted to meOctober 5, 1869. In such machine the drawing or spreading of the fibrousmaterials is performed by means of two or more endless belts or apronsfurnished with combing or hackling pins, and arranged one before theother, and running at different velocities, the operating-points of thepins on the two belts being in or nearly in the same plane,and all saidpins being presented in an upward direction during the time they are inoperation. Such machines have proved very effective in their operation,because the two belts of pins traveling at different velocitiesthoroughly comb and straighten the hemp, flax, or other material duringthe travel of the fibers through or overthe frame or machine, and

' while the fibers are free at both ends, but are r the other belt, andconsequently a break of such considerable length is left; between theworking portions of the two belts that although the machine works wellfor a long fiber it does not work so well for shorterfiber.

The object of my invention is to bring the working-pins of one beltnearer to those of the other, and thereby cause a closer nip of thefiber to be taken between the pins of the two belts; and to this end theinvention consists in inverting and raising one of the belts of pinsrelatively to the other; or, in other words, it consists in thecombination of two belts of pins arranged one before the other and amachine embodying my invention.

one above the other, so that the pins which are at any time in operationare presented in a downward direction on the lower portion of the higherbelt, and in an upward direction on the upper portion of the lower belt,and mechanism for moving the two belts in reverse directions, so thattheir operating or working portions will travel in the same direction,whereby I enable as close a nip of the fiber as is desirable to be takenbetween the pins of the two belts, and provide for a more nearlycontinuous operating surface.

The invention also consists in the combina tion, with feed-rolls, of twobelts of pins arranged as above described when the belt ad jacent to thefeed-rolls is arranged upon a higher plane than the belt in advance ofit, and has its pins which are at any time in operation presented in adownward direction,

while the pins of the belt in advance of it are presented in an upwarddirection.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 represents a verticallongitudinal section of Fig. 2 represents a plan thereof, and Fig. 3repre-j sents a detail view of the adjacent portions of the two belts ofpins on a larger scale.

Similar letters of reference designate corresponding parts in all thefigures. A designates the feed-board, on which the hemp or raw materialas taken from the bale, and without having recourse to lapping, isplaced.

13 B designate the two feed-rolls, which are arranged at the inner edgeof the feed-board, and the lower one of which, B, is mounted instationary bearings, while the upper one, B, may be impelled against thelower one, so as to rotate by frictional contact with the material fedin by springs a, which bear upon its boxes, or by any other suitablemeans.

0 D designate, respectively, two endless belts which are armed withcombing or hackling pins b. Only sufficientlength of the belts is fullyrepresented to enable my invention to be clearly understood, while theremaining portions of the belts are represented in dotted lines. Eachbelt is composed of two endless chains having rods or bars 0 extendingbetween them, and the rods'or bars have hackling or combing pins I)inserted in them entirely across the belt. The chains employed maybe ofany suitable construction-such, for example, as that shown and describedin Letters Patent of the United States No. 108,473, granted to meOctober 18, 1870 -and the lower portion of the belt O and the upperportion of the belt D are guided by tracks or ways (2, into which theends of the rods or bars 0 enter, and by which they are guided. The belt0 is carried by chain-wheels O, which engage with the rods or bars a,and are fixed 'upon shafts E E, which are arranged in the same plane.The belt D is carried by chain-wheels D, which engage with the rods orbars 0, and are fixed upon shafts F F, which are in a plane below thatin which the shafts E E are situated.

G G designate pressing-rolls, into which the spread or drawn fiber isdelivered from the belt D, and H H designate two deliveryrolls. Inpassing between the pressing-rolls G G the fiber enters a condenser, I,which gradually tapers or contracts toward the drawing-rollers H H, andwhich forms the fiber into a sliver, in which condition it passesbetween said delivery-rolls.

I will now describe how the various rolls and shafts of the machine areoperated in this example of my invention, promising, however, that anyother driving mechanism capable of imparting the necessary motions maybe employed, if deemed desirable. The lower pressing-roller, G, formsthe driving-shaft of the machine, and may be operated by a belt runningover the pulley e, and from this shaft motion is transmitted to thelower drawing-roll by a belt, f. Upon the end of the shaft G is apinion, g, which engages with a transmitting-wheel, g, and saidtransmitting-wheel engages with a wheel, on the shaft F and transmitsmotion thereto. By this means the belt D is moved in the direction ofthe arrow thereon in Fig. l and transmits motion to the shaft F.

Upon the end of the shaft F is a pinion, h, which engages with atransmitting-wheel, h, and through geared pinions k h (shown in dottedlines in Fig. 1) the motion is transmitted to a wheel, h, on the shaft Eof the belt 0, By said belt motion is transmitted to the shaft E, and onsaid shaft is a wheel, i, which engages with a wheel, 6, on the lowerfeedroll, B, and drives the same. The several gear-wheels through whichmotion is transmitted to the operating parts of the machine are soproportioned that the belt D is moved at a much greater velocity thanthe belt 0, and therefore'the fibers are drawn from the belt 0 by thebelt D, and are combed or straightened while they are free at theirends, and before they are taken hold of by the pressing or drawingrolls. The combing or hackling pins b of the belts O and D are so placedthat on the lower or operating portion of the belt 0 the pins areinclined rearward, while on the upper or operating surface of the belt Dthey are inclined forward. This inclination of the pins is important, asit causes the fiber to be held closely against the belts and preventsthe pins from throwing it off or dropping it, as they might if inclinedin the opposite direction or set straight.

Adjacent to the several chain-wheels O D are cams J, with which thechains of the belts engage, and by which the pins are caused to beinserted and withdrawn from the material being operated on in a verticaldirection, or lengthwise, which prevents the pins from lifting onentering the material or dragging on leaving it. The lower operatingportion of the belt 0 and the upper operating portion of the belt D arein or nearly in the same plane, and there is so short a gap between thetwo that the operatingsurface formed by them may almost be considered ascontinuous, as seen clearly in Fig. 3. The pins of the belt D areinserted into the material almost immediately after the pins of the belt0 are withdrawn, and hence it will be seen that the two belts of pinshave a very close nip on the material. This enables Very short fiber tobe worked in the machine, and tow may even be worked to bring it to thecondition of a sliver.

The pins of the belt 0 while in operation are presented downward, whilethe pins of the belt D are presented upward.

WVhat I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent,is-

1. In a machine for drawing or spreading fibrous materials, thecombination of two endless belts of combing or hackling pins arrangedone before the other and one above the other, so that the pins which areat any time in operation are presented in a downward direction on thelower portion of the higher belt and in an upward direction on the upperportion of the lower belt, and mechanism for operating said belts,substantially as and for the purpose specified.

2. In a machine for drawing or spreading fibrous materials,thecombination of feed-rolls, an endless belt of combing or hackling pins,having said pins presented in a downward direction on its loweroperating portion for taking material from said feed-rolls, a secondendless belt of pins arranged in advance of and below thefirst-mentioned belt, and having its pins presented in an upwarddirection on its upper or operating portion, and mechanism for operatingsaid rolls and belts, substantially as and for the purpose specified.

I JOHN GOOD. Witnesses:

FREDK. HAYNES,

ED. L. MORAN.

